Abstract:

Today's technological evolution, directly and indirectly determined by businesses, is progressively redefining social habits and interactions [1]. This change is generating new design opportunities, through increasingly intelligent and interconnected products and services. In order for technologies to be enjoyed in a simple and intuitive way by the public, it is necessary for companies to adopt an approach that synthesizes complexity, through products and systems that meet the needs of the users. A different approach towards the problem is what makes the use of design in business dynamics interesting.

Within the macro-scenario of technological and cultural transition that is outlining this historical period, the acquisition of design methodologies and strategies by companies without a design center could increase the value of the product and the brand. The branch of design that addresses the relationship between corporate culture and design culture is Design Management. There are identified three processes that build this discipline as a dynamic capability: design learning, which corresponds to the ability to acquire knowledge and practices and disseminate them in the company; design coordination, which represents the ability to coordinate the activities and practices required for good design processes; and design skills, which comprise a set of techniques and knowledge that generate synergy, creativity and innovation [2].

For this to happen, it is essential to establish clear and fluid communication between managers and designers, creating collaboration between different professionals [3].

From this perspective, and referring to a design-oriented problem-solving perspective, the formation of a design center, within the company, requires a preliminary phase of active learning to design practices. One approach capable of conveying the values and vision of the design team is co-design. This method refers to the creative process of designers and people not trained in the discipline collaborating on strategic and design development [4].

From this viewpoint, co-design represents an educational tool that guides the company towards design awareness by catalyzing technological complexity into affordable products and services. The learning of practices related to design by companies, thus triggers the generation of new vision inside and outside the company perimeter.

The research aims to investigate how preparatory practices of co-design can educate companies, without a design center, to an approach that enhances the know-how. The designer is configured as a guide/tutor to the active learning of strategic and design tools that expand the corporate vision.

References:
[1] C. Montag and S. Diefenbach, “Towards Homo Digitalis: Important Research Issues for Psychology and the Neurosciences at the Dawn of the Internet of Things and the Digital Society”, Sustainability, vol. 10, no. 2, p. 415, 2018.
[2] R. dos Santos, E. V. Bueno, H. T. Kato, and R. O. Corrêa, ‘Design management as dynamic capabilities: a historiographical analysis’, EBR, vol. 30, no. 6, pp. 707–719, 2018.
[3] C. C. Scaletsky, F. C. X. Da Costa, “Design Management & Strategic Design: Cross Perspectives”, Strategic Design Research Journal, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 27–42, 2019.
[4] E. B. N. Sanders, P. J. Stappers, “Co-creation and the new landscapes of design”, CoDesign, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 5–18, 2008.

Keywords:

Research Methodologies, New projects and Innovations, Design education, Design Management, Co-design.